Shropshire venue saw visitor numbers jump last year

The National Trust estate saw visitor numbers rise 10 per cent from 2022.

VisitEngland’s 2023 attractions survey found that while visits to attractions across England continued to recover last year, they were still significantly down on pre-pandemic levels.

Overall, visits to attractions in England continued to increase and were up 11 per cent compared to 2022 with the rate of growth slower than in the previous two years and with numbers down 28 per cent on 2019.

The Tower of London was again in the top spot last year as the most visited paid-for attraction in England, with 2.8 million visitors, up 38 per cent on 2022, although down six per cent on 2019. Kew Gardens also retained second place with two million visitors, up one per cent on 2022 and Chester Zoo came in third with 1.9m, up six per cent on the year.

For the West Midlands The Black Country Living Museum at Dudley was in second place with 339,021 – up two per cent and Dudley Zoo and Castle third with 302,386 – up one per cent. The Shugborough Estate, near Stafford, was fifth with 270,610 – up six per cent.

Birmingham's Midlands Arts Centre was the 17th most visited free attraction in the country and leader in the West Midlands with 853,355 visitors – up six per cent. Despite a six per cent fall to 280,407 the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire was third in the region and Ironbridge Toll House in Shropshire was tenth - up 22 per cent to 43,366.

The British Museum also regained top position nationally in the list of free attractions with 5.8m visitors– up 42 per cent on 2022 although still down seven per cent on 2019. Second was the Natural History Museum with 5.7m, up 18 per cent.

VisitEngland director Andrew Stokes said: “It’s good to see continued growth in visits to our wonderful attractions and this survey underlines what we know from the industry, that there remains ground to be covered to get our sector back to pre-pandemic levels and that the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite.

“Our exceptional attractions remain vitally important to our tourism offer and it’s no surprise international and domestic tourists are returning to our first-class museums and galleries and our world-beating castles and historic houses.

“With the summer holidays fast approaching I urge everyone to show your support, boost local economies through tourism and make magical memories in England’s high quality and varied attractions.”

Chief Executive of Historic England Duncan Wilson said: "These statistics give us a window into the challenges that many of England’s attractions are still facing, but it’s encouraging to see that numbers of visits are slowly climbing. We know that visiting heritage attractions can do so much for our mental health and wellbeing, so we want to see visitor numbers continue to grow. Everyone deserves to access, and learn from, the places and spaces which helped to shape who we are.”

The survey, which gathered information from 1,513 English attractions, shows that growth was fuelled by the return of overseas visitors and an increase in school trips in 2023. International visits to England’s attractions were up 80 per cent last year compared to 2022. Domestic visits to attractions in 2023 meanwhile saw a decrease of two per cent on the previous year.